We investigate the properties of di erent modifications to the linear -model (including a dilaton field associated with broken scale invariance) at finite baryon density and nonzero temperature T. The explicit breaking of chiral symmetry and the way the vector meson mass is generated are significant for the appearance of a phase of nearly vanishing nucleon mass besides the solution describing normal nuclear matter. The elimination of the abnormal solution prohibits the onset of a chiral phase transition but allows to lower the compressibility to a reasonable range. The repulsive contributions from the vector mesons are responsible for the wide range of stability of the normal phase in the (µ, T)-plane. The abnormal solution becomes not only energet- ically preferable to the normal state at high temperature or density, but also mechanically stable due to the inclusion of dilatons. PACS number:12.39.F

Abstract. A generalized Lagrangian for the description of hadronic matter based on the linear SU(3)L × SU(3)R -model is proposed. Besides the baryon octet, the spin-0 and spin-1 nonets, a gluon condensate associated with broken scale invariance is incorporated. The observed values for the vacuum masses of the baryons and mesons are reproduced. In mean-field approximation, vector and scalar interactions yield a saturating nuclear equation of state. Finite nuclei can be reasonably described, too. The condensates and the e ective baryon masses at finite baryon density and temperature are discussed.

Nuclei can be described satisfactorily in a nonlinear chiral SU(3)-framework, even with standard potentials of the linearmodel. The condensate value of the strange scalar meson is found to be important for the properties of nuclei even without adding hyperons. By neglecting terms which couple the strange to the nonstrange condensate one can reduce the model to a Walecka model structure embedded in SU(3). We discuss inherent problems with chiral SU(3) models regarding hyperon optical potentials.

Noneequilibrium models (three-fluid hydrodynamics and UrQMD) use to discuss the uniqueness of often proposed experimental signatures for quark matter formation in relativistic heavy ion collisions. It is demonstrated that these two models - although they do treat the most interesting early phase of the collisions quite differently(thermalizing QGP vs. coherent color fields with virtual particles) - both yields a reasonable agreement with a large variety of the available heavy ion data.

Introduction: Until now it is not possible to determine the equation of state (EOS) of hadronic matter from QCD. One succesfully applied alternative way to describe the hadronic world at high densities and temperatures are effective models like the RMF-models [1], where the relevant degrees of freedom are baryons and mesons instead of quarks and gluons. Since approximate chiral symmetry is an essential feature of QCD, it should be a useful concept for building and restricting e ective models. It has been shown [2,3] that effective sigma-omega models including SU(2) chiral symmetry are able to obtain a reasonable description of nuclear matter and finite nuclei. Recently [4] we have shown that an extended SU(3) × SU(3) chiral sigma-omega model is able to describe nuclear matter ground state properties, vacuum properties and finite nuclei satisfactorily. This model includes the lowest SU(3) multiplets of the baryons (octet and decuplet[5]), the spin-0 and the spin-1 mesons as the relevant degrees of freedom. Here we will discuss the predictions of this model for dense, hot, and strange hadronic matter.

We investigate various properties of neutron star matter within an e ective chiral SU(3)L × SU(3)R model. The predictions of this model are compared with a Walecka-type model. It is demonstrated that the importance of hy- peron degrees are strongly depending on the interaction used, even if the equation of state near saturation density is nearly the same in both models. While the Walecka-type model predicts a strange star core with strangeness fraction fS 4/3, the chiral model allows only for fS 1/3 and predicts that 0, + and 0 will not exist in star, in contrast to the Walecka-type model. PACS: 26.60+c, 21.65+f, 24.10Jv

Superheavy nuclei are investigated in a nonlinear chiral SU(3)-model. The proton number Z=120 and neutron numbers of N=172, 184 and 198 are predicted to be magic. The charge distributions and alpha-decay chains hint towards a hollow stucture.

A nonlinear chiral SU(3) approach including the spin 3 2 decuplet is developed to describe dense matter. The coupling constants of the baryon resonances to the scalar mesons are determined from the decuplet vacuum masses and SU(3) symmetry relations. Di erent methods of mass generation show significant differences in the properties of the spin- 3 2 particles and in the nuclear equation of state

Compelling evidence for a new form of matter has been claimed to be formed in Pb+Pb collisions at SPS. We critically review two suggested signatures for this new state of matter: First the suppression of the J/psi , which should be strongly suppressed in the QGP by two different mechanisms, the color-screening [1] and the QCD-photoe ect [2]. Secondly the measured particle, in particular strange hadronic, ratios might signal the freeze-out from a quark-gluon phase.

A model based on chiral SU(3)-symmetry in nonlinear realisation is used for the investigation of nuclei, superheavy nuclei, hypernuclei and multistrange nuclear objects (so called MEMOs). The model works very well in the case of nuclei and hypernuclei with one Lambda-particle and rules out MEMOs. Basic observables which are known for nuclei and hypernuclei are reproduced satisfactorily. The model predicts Z=120 and N=172, 184 and 198 as the next shell closures in the region of superheavy nuclei. The calculations have been performed in self-consistent relativistic mean field approximation assuming spherical symmetry. The parameters were adapted to known nuclei.